Author Notes:
I blame RNGesus for this OBOM development, but I think it turned out OK-ish? Anyway, do you know what time is it?
It's my birthday today, hurray~! This OBOM chapter comes out just in time for it, haha.
For everyone who have been with me for a long, long while, thank you so much for the support and kindness you have given to Mom and I throughout the long, long years. Here's to another wonderful year to come!
As for those who are still new to me, RM, GSS, and OBOM, here's hoping you all will stick around for more shenanigans that will no doubt be ever present in the future~!
Additionally, may I present all interested and able newcomers in joining my Patreon, where an astounding 40% discount on your first subscription event is ongoing from now to May 22nd! It's literally the greatest discount value thus far, and if you want to easily gain access to 9 more OBOM chapters in advance, then use this chance to hop on!
Many thanks to you all, and don't forget to review, and comment below! Memes are welcome!
https://www.patreon.com/Heartbreak117
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"And up we go...!" I mutter with a bit of force as I grab tightly on Alpha's tail, letting it pull me upward and over a steep rockface.
"Thanks, by the way." I say to the Alpha now that I am on solid, less treacherous ground. "How many of these heights have we climbed, again?"
The Alpha shakes its head before trotting away to a good vantage point. Clearly, it only enjoys so much hiking before it gets stale.
"I-It's hard to say, Umbra... We have canvased so many areas that it wouldn't be a stretch to say that we could be standing on an unexplored continent?" Aurea replies. She herself is also feeling the fatigue from this seemingly aimless exploration.
I will be lying if I say that the hundreds of kilometers without any groundbreaking discovery isn't taking its toll on my mental state as well.
"Well, we can only discover so much from sticking close to the rivers and mountains... Hopefully, when the Rover is completed, we will be able to find a breakthrough, journeying elsewhere... That's the hope, at least." I hype ourselves up before moving to join the Alpha, now sitting on its hind legs as it overlooks the vast stretch of plain... And something else.
The Alpha looks at it, making a huff and an eye roll before gesturing its snout in the direction of the strange scenic object in the beyond.
Lying my eyes on the sight, I laugh out, half in disbelief.
"Never mind... I really should be careful about what to wish for in the future."
"W-What is that!?" Aurea jumps to full attention in our shared mental space, leading me to say.
"Don't know..." I pull up a pair of binoculars to take a deeper look at what's down there among the vast green plains dotted with small blue lakes and ponds. "I'm interested in finding out. This is literally the very thing we have all been searching for... And it's a train, huh?"
Of all the things I have ever expected to see on this long journey of ours, a train, or at least something that looks like one, is nowhere even close to what I have in mind.
"Ehm... Aurea? Pretty sure Arcadia hasn't developed something like a train, right?"
"I-I think so?" Aurea similarly shares my confusion. After so long, my Other Me understands just what a train is and why this discovery is monumental. "I know that beasts of burden and caravans are still the mainstream in land transportation... Not even the Fortskritt Theocracy has something like a train, at least not one on that scale..."
"I know, right? It's a train, but why does its size and length approach that of an actual space frigate? Seems to me that it's at least 200 meters tall, give or take a dozen meters as a margin of error due to the distance from here to there. And if my estimation is correct, the whole train should run the length of some 600 meters, had it not been broken up into so many segments." I comment after scanning the horizon for, well, pretty much all visible traces of the seemingly defunct train.
I add momentarily. "Ok, there's no way in hell this is a landbound train, as weird as it sounds. I see no clue that even hints at the existence of a railroad system that can service something of that size. Either this thing just suddenly appeared out of nowhere one day, or it crashed from nowhere one day."
"E-Ehm, Other Me..." Aurea starts, unsure about something.
"Talk to me, Aurea." I encourage her gently to get out of her funk.
"The train looks like it's destroyed, or at least critically damaged and long abandoned... Do you think that whatever ruined those Knights from before also did the same to that train?" Aurea gulps.
To see something hundreds of times bigger than a mech being so thoroughly dismantled, forgotten by the rest of the world... Yeah, it brings upon a different kind of fear.
"Though I would like it not to be true, the possibility exists..." I reply with a sigh while taking note of the state of the train. "And we will be heading straight toward the aftermath."
"Un..." Aurea nods, steeling herself.
After some deeper scrutiny, courtesy of my vantage point, I realize that the train did crash-land at some point in the past. The impact of such an event has created a long trench with the very front of the train, a gigantic locomotive part, lying 2/3rd buried under the ground. Along the length of the trench, now taken over by Mother Nature, lay multiple massive cars. These cars, similarly to the main control car, are left derelict, with almost none of them connected to one another in the kilometers-long channel.
I can see holes, big and small alike, and cracks that run along some parts of these cars. However, it remains to be seen if these are inducted by the crash, the passage of time, the environment, or battle scarred by something that brought this whole train crashing.
Still have a hard time believing any engineer worth a damn would build a flying, or, Viola forbid, a space-faring train. That's such a massive vanity project that I am at a loss to justify any reasonable reason for its existence.
Either way, this matter requires a closer, physical inspection.
"At the very least, there's some body of water over there where we can deploy the White Pearl." I say while putting away the binoculars into the Inventory. "We can use the Pearl as a home base as we've always done, or we can use it as an actual firebase if there's really some threats lurking around."
Honestly, it would have been better if we had the Rover available as well. We may need its impressive horsepower and crane if we're to explore the train.
Pulling out the familiar map and a pencil, I start working on updating the piece of paper with the details I am seeing up here. It will take some more time before I start climbing down this rocky height.
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"Ok, Alpha," I say while readjusting the surprisingly high-quality saddle on Alpha's back, making sure it ain't causing the big Horned Wolf any discomfort. "You good with this?"
The Alpha nods with a huff. It remains calm as I tentatively mount the saddle.
This fine leather saddle is one of the many System rewards that I have in Inventory. It also comes with the insignia of the Eternal Reich, something I have come to be familiar with in the few times I received rewards bearing that moniker. Albeit the saddle is different in that it has the signature of someone with the last name Kemper in it. Apparently, it's a hand-crafted design, fitted only for the best rider and the most fiery beast imaginable.
And honestly, this saddle feels great upon sitting on it. Alpha doesn't seem to find the weight of both me and the saddle bothersome as well, so I reckon it's a pretty darn good reward. The Kemper who crafted this saddle must have some solid skill, all things considered. But it does beg the familiar questions:
What is the Eternal Reich, and why does the System have so many rewards related to it?
But once again, it's a conundrum for another day. Now that I am safely secured on the Alpha's back, I reach forward to give the side of the Alpha a couple of pats.
"Alright, I think this time around, you can dash faster now that I have something to hold onto."
I then pick up the leather rein, which mostly serves as something for me to grip onto. The Alpha knows its strides the best, so I'm not gonna interfere in how it navigates the terrains. Moments later, the Alpha stands up from its lying position on the ground and takes off into a sprint.
Believe me when I say this, even a cheetah would find the Alpha a worthy adversary in terms of speed. The winds pick up like mad, whipping my short, white hair and trench coat wildly in the air. The scenery fades away, leaving nothing but an enlarging destination that is popping up and down like the whole world is one giant carousel. Fortunately, I equipped myself with protective eyewear before this sprint started; my eyes would probably start bleeding otherwise.
From the foot of that mountain from which we spotted the crashed train, the Alpha sprints for some three kilometers, nonstop. And by the time the dash is over, and I am left utterly heaving due to the jostling and strain of having to make sure I'm not shaken off the saddle, the Alpha doesn't even pant one bit. The Alpha comes to a slow trot up the side of the trench carved by the crashed locomotive, and I am thankful that the speedy ordeal is over when it comes to a full stop.
"Note to self, figure out a way to improve my physical fitness once more if riding Alpha is to become a common occurance." I say, my shoulders shaking from the rush of adrenaline. "Shouldn't have overestimated myself, hahaha..."
Aurea can be heard gulping in our mental space, dreading the possibility that it could have been her who experienced the sprint, not me. Fortunately, my dear Other Me does not need to go through such a trauma. I alone is enough.
"Anyway, thanks, Alpha." I give its fur a couple of pats before dismounting the saddle.
My feet landing on solid ground is a blessing, to be sure. All the more reason to thank Aurea's foresight in deciding that getting the Rover is a great idea. But anyway...
Standing on the raised edge of the trench, the Alpha and I look down the slope that, ultimately, leads to the half-buried form of the locomotive part of the train. This close to it, we all can see the train has weathered a lot of things, weather and time alike. The train, in its entirety, features a completely novel and futuristic design that harkens to its potential as a space-faring platform. At the very least, it's much more aerodynamic than a steam-powered train, and I can identify what could be RCS thrusters in some part of the upper hull.
Not sure how bad the crash was, but the train seemingly was built tough enough that its superstructure, at least the part that I can see, remains largely intact. There are breaches here and there, of course, but the fact that you can still make out that it's a train is a miracle when train crashes can be volatile, especially if it's supposed to be flight-capable.
Again, I can't make out the markings on the external. Time and rain have eroded the paint job like the Knights from before. However, I hope that, due to the extensive size of the locomotive and its cars that are further behind, the interior will provide more intact clues that I can use to infer what the heck happened here all those years ago. The curiosity is killing the Alpha, Aurea, and me, by this point.
So, without further ado, I turn to Alpha.
"Hey, can you help me see if there's any opening on ground level that we can use to get into that thing?" I point at the sunken locomotive down the slope. "I don't think any of my climbing equipment would be able to hook onto the smooth metal wall of that thing."
The Alpha gives me a look before turning back to gaze at the metallic hulk. Eventually, it nods before hopping down the slope and running toward it. I imagine that the Alpha will have to circle the vast size of the train first before returning to me. I should have taken this time to slowly make my way toward it as well.
If there's really no easy way to get into the locomotive, then I will have to come up with a way to safely climb into it using one of the breaches I see on the upper superstructure of the thing... Ok, how should I coin this thing again? It's a space train, so is it the superstructure or upper hull?
This is bloody confusing as hell, and Aurea seems to agree with me. Nobody expects a train, damn it.